The Lens

FotoFocus Artistic Director and Curator, Kevin Moore, met with Photographer Matt Black over Zoom for a brief conversation prior to the upcoming FotoFocus Lecture and Visiting Artist series on March 26. In the following conversation, they discuss how Black became interested in photography, his process for creating photo essays, and his involvement in Magnum. Read on to find out more.

Matt Black is a world renowned photographer whose work has explored the intersecting subjects of poverty, migration, and environmental destruction. His distinctive, long-form approach to photojournalism... Continue reading In Conversation: Matt Black and Kevin Moore

FotoFocus is pleased to announce Matt Black as the latest speaker in its Lecture and Visiting Artist Series. This event is free and open to the public but registration is kindly requested. A reception will immediately follow the talk in the Marek-Weaver Family Commons.

Guests with an RSVP are strongly encouraged to arrive between 6–6:15pm for first choice seating. Walk-in guests will be invited to select remaining seats beginning at 6:15pm.

Thursday, March 26, 2026 at 6:30pmCincinnati Art Museum, Fath Auditorium953 Eden Park Dr, Cincinnati, OH 45202

In advance of their FotoFocus Symposium keynote, photographer Mitch Epstein and art historian Robert Slifkin discuss how photography is shaped by economies as well as the paradox between its use as a tool to raise awareness in times of catastrophe rather than taking direct action. This year’s FotoFocus Symposium theme, Photo-Economics, asks us to consider how photography is both an art form and an economy and how it can tow the line between art and activism.

The conversations during the FotoFocus Symposium's morning session, Material Economics, consider the materials at the heart of photographic practice—silver, platinum, bitumen, paper, and chemicals—and the economic, social, and environmental histories they carry. For some, this means tracing photography back to the mines and factories where these substances originate. For others, it means looking closely at how those materials age, sustain over time, and are preserved.

To understand how materials shape the life of the photograph, we turned to two Symposium participants who have spent their careers studying and working with photographic matter itself. Lee Ann Daffner, Andrew W. Mellon... Continue reading Material Matters: A Q&A with Lee Ann Daffner and Alison Rossiter

FotoFocus has launched a Call for Entry for the upcoming 2026 FotoFocus Biennial: The Long View, welcoming lens-based artists to apply for inclusion in an exhibition at the Contemporary Arts Center (CAC). Going live today, September 11, this Call for Entry will align with the Biennial theme, The Long View.

Cincinnati, OH (September 11, 2025) — FotoFocus is pleased to announce a Call for Entry for the upcoming 2026 FotoFocus Biennial: The Long View, welcoming lens-based artists to apply for inclusion in an exhibition at... Continue reading FotoFocus Announces “Call for Entry” for 2026 Biennial: The Long View